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Description

Australian Water Law offers practical and up-to-date guidance on the critical issues of ownership, control and use of water as a resource.

A complex web of state and federal legislation seeks to manage and protect water and water rights, which are also interwoven with property law and environmental law. This presents considerable challenges for practitioners who are advising on matters like access rights, statutory water entitlements, water planning and resource protection.

Commercially, water law affects a range of infrastructure development and management projects, while a national water market offers opportunities to trade water rights, and risks and controls.

Kate Stoeckel, Romany Webb and Luke Woodward apply their considerable legal experience in matters involving water rights as well as regulation of the water and sewerage industry and Amy Hankinson offers her significant expertise in environmental law and water management.

The result is a fresh, practical and authoritative examination of legal issues relating to water. .

Lawyers working in water and environmental law, and non-legal professionals involved in water resource management and planning, will be apprised of the legislative instruments that control water resources in Australia, as well as the nature of water rights and their impact.

Australian Water Law provides a concise and practical legal treatment of water planning and management, following many years of development and change in the law.

Editorial Reviews

As water has become an increasingly precious resource in Australia the legislature has intervened to ensure it is properly managed. Indicative of that, Australia’s water law is almost entirely statue based whereas historically, it was governed purely by the common law inherited from England.

This text explores the various laws and regulations that collectively comprise Australia’s body of water law. In doing so, the authors have included insightful discussions of all key principles, covering topics such as the right to access and use water, trading in water and water quality.

Water, by its nature, requires management plans, which the legislation aims to promote, that work across various jurisdictions. In that context the text looks at all applicable legislation, at both a state and federal level. This reviewer was particularly impressed that the authors chose to analyse, in depth, each jurisdiction’s legislative regime.

Incorporated into that discussion, is a consideration of the bodies and water plans that stand behind the legislation. Consequently the text steps out of the purely theoretical realm into more practical areas, an approach readers will find refreshing.

A quick glance of the title might suggest this is a text of little relevance for most practitioners. However, all readers will be able to fish out useful pieces of information and find reading it, even if their attention is limited to their own jurisdiction, useful.

To the authors’ credit they have produced a good authoritative text on a potentially dry topic.

Table of Contents

Introduction to water resources development, management and law Evolution of Water Rights Water Planning and Management Rights to access and use water Water markets - Dealing and trading in water rights Community water and sewerage infrastructure and services Access and competition Environmental water and protection Water quality